The Anambra State Local Government Council Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the election of Mr. Cosmas Okonkwo, candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, as chairman of Awka North Local Government Area of the state.

The tribunal dismissed the petition of Mr. ThankGod Anago of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who had challenged the election of Okonkwo as Chairman of Awka North council.

Anago had dragged Okonkwo alongside Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission, Electoral Returning Officer and Returning Officer of Awka North council before the tribunal.

“The burden of proof that the election did not hold because materials were returned to Awka when they were not distributed at the council headquarter, Achalla, was on the petitioner who will fail if facts pleaded were not proved. The respondent pleaded and testified that the materials were never returned to Awka but were duly distributed and used in the election.

“Failure on the part of the petitioner to call these people or explain their absence satisfactorily and his failure to tender the video coverage or the channels broadcast which would have graphically shown the return of the materials to Awka dealt a big blow to the case of the petitioner

“The respondents led evidence unchallenged that materials were distributed, used in the elections and results generated from the polling units. The respondents tendered the ward collated results from all the polling units and the wards.

“These results were admitted in evidence and were not challenged. There is the presumption of regularity and correctness of results declared by ANSIEC. One point which is very worrisome is the absence of the scores polled by the petitioner in the final result of the election.

“In all the results from the wards the petitioner scored votes in all the polling units. In Exh. Dl5, the petitioner was not given a vote yet ANSIEC said the 4th respondent scored majority of lawful votes at the election. It would have been easy to know who scored the majority of lawful votes if the votes of the petitioner were shown on Exh D1S. This is a grave error on the part of ANSIEC.

“DW1 was the electoral Officer for the local government, who testified that materials were distributed. She tendered Exh. D15. When she was asked whether the election was contested, she said yes and when she was confronted with the fact that the scores of the petitioner were not entered in Exh. D15, this witness said that his scores were not entered because his party, PDP, withdrew from the election.

This was a grievous mistake from the ANSIEC because majority of lawful votes connotes that there are two votes, a majority one and a minority one.

Results

“However, Exh. D1-D14 are results from the polling units entered into the ward collated results. The documents having been tendered in the proceedings the tribunal in exercise of its judicial powers, collated the results which are as follows:

1. Petitioner: Anago – 3,169

2. Okonkwo scored 15,410 votes

From the above collation, the 4th respondent scored the majority of lawful votes at the election. The evidence of the petition on the allegations in the petition are not credible starting from the pleadings up to the evidence of the very important witness, the petitioner. The failure of the petitioner to call Hon K. C. Enemuo, and others, who followed him to return the materials to Awka and failure to provide the graphic evidence in proof of the facts pleaded which would have enabled the tribunal to come to a conclusion that there was no distribution of materials from the council headquarters, Achalla questioned the allegations on the petition and rendered them not proved.

“In the final analysis, the petitioner has failed to prove his case. The petition fails and is hereby dismissed.”